It seems like every time I go to Wembley to watch my beloved Tottenham Hotspur, I feel compelled to write a blog. This is good for thinking and putting thoughts down on paper. When I wrote before Christmas in criticism of Brighton's negative restrictive play in defeat, unfortunately this piece is again going to be in the negative.
However, it is not a negative piece about the FA Cup losing its lustre - seeing 7000 Newport County fans travel to London on a freezing evening shows that the competition will never lose appeal in the lower leagues because of days like this; it is not negative about Pochettino's team selection - this was necessary because of the forthcoming North London Derby three days away, it was correct to give Lloris, Vertonghen, Dier, Dembele a complete night off with the insurance policy of Eriksen, Alli and Kane on the bench.
No, this piece is about quite possibly the worst player I have ever seen wear a Tottenham Hotspur shirt which in watching the team for nearly 30 years I feel is quite a statement. I have seen some bad players - of varying positions and talent. Some could not step up to expectation and got found out (Neil Sullivan), some were not worth the exorbitant transfer fee (Sergei Rebrov/Dean Richards), some were just not good but showed endeavour (David Tuttle/Stuart Nethercott), some could be called donkeys but at least they produced (Gary Doherty) but never have we bared witness to a player of such staggering ineptness and cringe-inducing confidence. This player is more capable of passing the ball out of play than passing to a team-mate.
The player's name is Moussa Sissoko. The man who was paramount in France's gallop to the European Championship final in 2016, who put this same Tottenham side to the sword in a swashbuckling 5-1 defeat on the last day of the 2015/16 season in his last game for Newcastle United.
When playing for Newcastle, Sissoko played off the right wing and could run at the defence whilst dribbling at speed linking up with a front man effectively. This has not translated to the Spurs side which has featured numerous occasions of wasteful possession, misplaced passes and skewed shots. I have seen him unable to pass to a team-mate from three yards away, he runs into defenders thinking he can go through them like Superman however his feet are like two blocks of kryptonite when in possession. He runs ungainly, like a floppy limbed hurdler who has hit the penultimate obstacle in a 110m hurdle race falling unelegantly for the line and still landing five metres short of the finishing line.
Perhaps as a club we were guilty of signing a player who made our team look stupid on a bad day; he is capable of good days just not when wearing white. Perhaps he is not capable of succinct effective passing in a team used to counter-attacking at pace and precision.
It is a shame that this piece has to be written but when fellow supporters and viewers, keep uttering 'He's bad isn't he', 'He's awful' and words such as embarrassing are thrown about for a professional footballer it is important people are told. Sissoko will not (hopefully) be on the bench on Saturday afternoon, mostly because we have better players who will be better options.
Pochettino rung the changes last night to give players a breather from the workload of a season with continued involvement within three competitions; you trust that he will give the spectators a breather from Sissoko on Saturday.
No comments:
Post a Comment